If heaven exists...

If Heaven exists, this is how I envision it...


The Perfect Long Run...
79 degrees.  Early Morning.  Sun just rising at the start of the run.  An hour and 40 min. of grinding out rolling hills through wooded areas and around bogs similar to those at waterfall glenn.  To me this type of changing landscape provides the perfect serenity.  The perfect balance between sun and shade.  No bugs in face.  Blue skies er'y day.  Your shoes feel brand new... day after day.  No cramps, fresh legs, just rolling 6:00ers like its nobody's business.  Riding the threshold never felt so good.

Brunch of Epic Proportions...
In heaven, you don't get full.  Or fat.  You just get satisfied.  Brunch is the best.  You get to combine your hunger of breakfast and lunch into one meal.  Its the best time to sit around with friends and discuss the events of the previous night in heaven.
The menu:
      Drinks
             -Glass of Pineapple-coconut-orange juice
             -Glass of Chocolate Milk (the perfect recovery drink)
      Food
            -2 Eggs Benedict
            -Hashed Browns. NOT the McDonalds way
            -Blueberry muffins
            -Cinnabon
            -Endless Bacon
            -Fat Stack of Chocolate Chip Pancakes
            -Toast smothered in Nutella
            -Bowl of OHs!

Some Pick-up Basketball...
Yea, you know I'm rolling with a Wilson Solution.  This is heaven after all.  After warming up with a few games of one on one, we are running 5's, none of that 21 bull shit.  The game ends with my daily Lexus Pursuing Perfection Player of the Game award, and a highlight real on the jumbo-tron of me breaking ankles and pick-pocketing Lebron. Heaven is good.

Beach...
The beaches in heaven closely resemble those of the Carribean. Crystal clear blue waters, white sand beaches. Palm trees everywhere.  Beautiful Babe in one hand, brewski in the other.  Getting healed by mother nature.  To get away from everything, I will typically take my KAYA out along the never-ending horizon until I can't even see land anymore.  From there I sit back in the kayak and fall asleep and I let the cosmic rays bury me and the waves gently carry me back inland. No sharks in heaven.

Nap in a field of grasses... that don't itch...
When I finally awake, the Kayak is gone.  I find myself atop a small rolling hill overlooking an endless field of grasses.  The sea of gold goes on for miles as waves roll through it.  The sun is starting to drop and I don't have a worry on my mind.  Now, I nap.  You don't dream in heaven.  You just nap.

Da Bulls! Da Bulls!
After a long nap, its time to enjoy Heaven's Greatest Pastime.  Da Bulls!  Every day is a game 7 against Miami.  Bulls win every time in dominant fashion.  Lebron quits in the 4th quarter.  Bosh fakes injuries.  D.Rose puts up 50. Lt. Deng plays all 48 mins (just like in real life) and Scalabrine dunks over Wade.  Noah runs down the court with so much energy, even God gets goosebumps.  God loves the Bulls.  And watching it courtside in the Madhouse on Madison is the perfect start to an awesome night in heaven.

Things I watched that I really enjoyed this week...

Enjoy!

http://www.wimp.com/eminemviolin/

http://www.wimp.com/correspondentsdinner/

http://www.dump.com/2011/01/12/four-guys-and-a-guitar-video/

Mixing Two Styles...

Tonight I attended a fashion show in downtown Champaign.  It was the first I have ever been to and I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting and enjoyable of an experience it really was.  The theme of the show, entitled 'Py Pa Po', was about examining what happens when you take two preexisting styles (of anything, but in this case fashion) and force them together thus creating one new unique style.  Does it diminish the successes of the preexisting styles, or does it create something even richer and more complex? As I watched the show take place, I thought of landscape architecture, as I so often do, and how this mixing of styles applies to my own desire to take and learn from some of my favorite landscape architects whose styles vary tremendously and merge them into something unique and original.  Something that is essentially my own.  These preexisting styles allow for my own to develop.  I would like to think that this moves towards something even richer, and more complex, and not the other way around.

That being said, I often times get asked who some of my favorite landscape architects are (as if the people asking that would have any knowledge of the people I would list off).  But thinking about it, I have taken a liking of the form of one landscape architect and the plant palate and horticultural style of another.  Their stuff is truly impressive and I think even people without any understanding or background in landscape architecture could really appreciate their work.

Piet Oudolf:  This is the man whose plant palate I really strive to match.  Some of his most famous works that a lot of you might be familiar with or SHOULD get familiar with is that of the Lurie Gardens (In Chicago's Millennium Park) and his work along New York City's High-Line Park.  But those are just some of his more famous ones.  There are other private sites that far surpass that in my opinion.  Take a look...

Lurie Garden in Late Summer

                                                                 Lurie Garden in Late Spring

                              His intermixing of ornamental  grasses and perennials is extraordinary

                                                         High Line Park at its Finest

                                          Another Section of the Famous High-Line Park
     (Which used to be an abandoned above ground train line running along the west side of Manhattan)

                                                 Now for the really good stuff...

                               Don't you wish this was YOUR backyard?  I prefer this over a lawn...

                                                        Last Image of his I Swear....

Now, as I said, I want to learn from HIS Plant Palate.  However, within his design, he creates a very loose organic form (meandering paths, round borders, etc.)  I am not as big a fan of that form as it is a less efficient use of space and it seems like it is trying to convey that what is there is 'natural' and always existed when in reality, it is everything but that.  In my attempt to master form, I turn to recently deceased  Dan Kiley.  Most of you might know his work if you have ever took a gander to the south courtyard of the Chicago Art Institute.  He is also responsible for much of the Chicago Botanic Gardens and the Plaza at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts in NYC... His form is much more geometric, creating spaces that truly invoke the awareness of manipulation to that space that brings it to life.  Here are some good examples of his work...

                                                                   Private Residence

                                                     Chicago Botanic Garden in Summer

                                                 Chicago Botanic Garden in the Winter

                                               South Courtyard @ Chicago Art Institute

                                             South Courtyard @ Chicago Art Institute again

So there you have it.  If you mix these two great styles, you will come up with a new style that is essentially what I am trying to attain.  Whether it is fashion or landscape, I believe we can continue to move forward and find more complex and interesting ways of doing things just by knowing what has been done before.  It is not copying, it is building.

Next Chapter Please...

As I count down my final days of classes, anxiously awaiting 'the real world' that awaits me, I find myself searching for ways to really soak it all in.  Part of me isn't completely ready to let go.  I am faced with the reality that in just a few months from now, I am sure a large part of me will really wish I was back where I am today.  That in mind, I am really attempting one way or another to hold on to these pieces of college that will always bring back fond memories...  Here are some things that I will always remember about my college experience.  Some of you may remember, some may just be able to relate... But I figure if I write this out, I will always be able to look back and remember... and reminisce...

'The White-Trash-Bash': This was one of the first 'College Parties' that I attended.  It was also one of the first nights I got kind of drunk.  Not hammered, or anything like that, but just happy drunk.  Maybe it was the beer.... Maybe it was that I met the girl I would end up marrying some day (lame, I know).  But seriously, I remember having one of the best conversations in my life and considering it was only a few sentences long, she did a good job at getting my attention.  I think the entire Cross Country team can vouch for the fact that I had a slight crush on this girl.  Maybe it was her trashy looking runny mascara (in accordance with the Party's theme!) or maybe it was just her smile, but 3 and a half years later, the memory of that night still gives me butterflies...

'The Scavenger Hunt': Pardon my poor memory here, I can't remember everyone that took part in this night, but the game was as follows.  We had two teams, and a list of tasks we had to go accomplish.  The team that accomplished the most tasks in a given amount of time won...  I have forgotten almost all of the tasks by now... for some reason the three tasks that I can still remember were... Murray shaving one of his legs.... A bunch of us streaking at a frat pool party/outdoor concert... JoJo asking a gas station attendant if they had an bigger condoms.... So college.

Notre Dame--Part 1--'I hate Gum': Can't remember too much of this night.  But I do remember the group of us who congregated in a circle outside of this house part to support Popejoy's campaign against gum.  (It gets in the way of him puking apparently).  And so our chant of 'I hate gum on 3' began...  So college

Notre Dame--Part 2--'Meyo': Somehow this party/weekend outdid the first Notre Dame adventure.  Sing-song, Irish Pubs (Fiddlers.  DO GO!), doing gargoyles on the keg, machete fights, a lot of weird random hookups (Cough--Tim/Taylor/whatever went on in that room).  I want to say Kalvin and Hobbs made an appearance too?   Tooley's a sucka--Blah.... basically too many quotes and memories from this weekend.  Simply out of control... We will return to South Bend again some day... and they WILL bow down to us.  And we WILL ride in the trunk on the way down.  Two T's in the T Lives on!!!! So college...

The Apartment on Chalmers:  I feel like I grew up and have more memories from the Chalmers Apartment of Dan Walters, Jon Popejoy,  Jeremy Stevens, and Tim Maier than I do all other places combined... Okay, a slight exaggeration... but so much guitar hero.  So many power hours.  So much fun.  So college.... Want to go back!

Cross Country Camp--Galena--Sophomore Year:  Wasn't fit.  Still Rocked the Hills. Got Injured.  Quit.  Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't quit.  But I am pretty sure it would have gone something like this.... Injured... Injured... Injured... 

Game Day!!!:  The start of sophomore year was so college, I can't even sum it up using any other words.  Nothing was better than waking up to the smell of the grill outside my window with Jared Richardson yelling in "First Beer Cracked at 6:59 A.M.!  Get on out here! Its Game Day!"  As we sat around the grill making bacon, sausages, pancakes, and eggs, while drinking mimosas from a snow-tiger cup, we consistently yelled at every person that passed "GAMEDAY!" Surely firing up the spirits of many Illini Fans on their way to the game.  Not even the boot I was constrained to could put a damper on those days....  So college.

Big 10's Ann Arbor style:  For Big Tens Cross Country my sophomore year, a couple of us went up and stayed at a buddy's place the night before (thanks mac).  Had a good time, met a lot of really cool people, and taylor stole a tub of ice cream from an Icecream/Pizza shop.  Pretty Standard.

Sophomore Year Studio:  In between our crazy teacher flipping out on us--Props to Sam Carlson for rubbing her head in her own doo-doo--  and our bus getting stuck in some woods in the middle of nowhere, we learned to draw 'and do other stuff good too.'  Oh and I spent twice as much time in Mumford Hall as I did my own apartment.  I met some truly interesting people that I hope I never forget.

Long Runs on the South Farms:  Race & Curtis.  My favorite intersection in Chambana.  I don't know what it is about you... but whenever I come back to Champaign, I will always make an effort, no matter how fat and out of shape I may become, to run out to meet you.  The south farms have this smell... this monotonous and mundane landscape to it... And I love it.  The south farms is where I put in a lot of long, lonely miles.  It will always remind me of this place.  Or maybe this place will always remind me of long runs to the south farms.

Halloween Jr. Year--The Beer Bong:  So, not too much to this story... Except, my first gig with a beer bong.  Turns out its the greatest invention ever.  Why didn't anyone tell me?  Oh I know why... perhaps they knew THIS would happen...  So I'm having the best time ever with this thing, just downing brewskis.  Challenging anyone who steps up to a beerbong race.  Well after a few too many, I still accept a 4 person challenge.  As it goes, it is really close at the end between me and some homie, I force the last gulp down and throw my hands up in celebration as I clearly have outbonged another competitor.  But as I did so, the beer exited in the exact form it went down.  I kid you not, a tube shape of beer exited my mouth in a way that would have looked like a video on rewind.  The people around me weren't too pleased, but I can't help but think it was frickin' hilarious.

Jared Richardson:  Taught me how to enjoy life to the fullest.... So college...

Todos Quatro--Domincan Republic Style:  While this wasn't technically at college, the trip with three of my best friends (all of whom I met while in college) was one of the best vacations I have ever taken.  The Caribbean waters were so beautiful and body surfing waves has never been so fun.  Dan Walters, Allie Dale, Rachel Wyffles... Another Todos Quatros Vacation will need to be planned... Here is to the passion fruit...

'Flippy Cup Night' at Cly's: One of the first weekends of my Final Year of college, a few weeks before my 2nd Chicago Marathon... I decided it would be the last time really going out for me before the marathon as I wanted to have a much better performance than the year before.  Needless to say, we REALLY let loose.  Starting drinking in the morning, went tailgating, watched Jacob and Blake Wyffels make complete fools of themselves in front of Mrs. Wyffels was priceless.  Watched the Illini (I THINK they won, but who is keeping track?)  After, Rachel, Abby and I headed to Cly's and played flippy cup for hours on end until we were pretty much destroyed.  We then ordered a large pizza from one world, swallowed it in one bite, and ordered another one from papa johns on our way home, it arrived right as we got back.  Downed that one too, Attempted to go swimming in the pool at like 2:00 A.M. Security guard would have none of it.  We called him a poopy head from the window as he circulated the property.... I vaguely remember having a religious discussion with Abby before passing out... So college.

Wine Tasting Night At Krannert: If you haven't gone and you will still be at the university of illinois next year, you better promise me you attend this event.  Once every fall picadilly sponsors a wine tasting event at krannert.  For ten dollars you can sample almost 200 different wines from all over the world!  Amazing!  I learned so much about what i liked and didn't like that night.  Unfortunately I consumed so much wine, that my findings were actually lost... but they also had cheese and bread to go along with the wine... Amazing deal.

First Fat Sandy Night, Second Fat Sandy Night:  Short story here... The night I got my first fat sandwich ever... I also got my second fat sandwich ever.  I am still counting but I am pretty sure it was close to 17 million calories.  I am still trying to work it off.  So college...

A Cold Night at the Arb: After 2 and a half years of trying to convince this one girl that I am kinda cool, I think she had finally fallen for it.  She leaves me behind at college a semester early but that doesn't stop her from coming to visit me every now and then.  And on one of these visits, I had a surprise for her.  On the coldest day of the year, I decided to really show her my level of commitment by spending hours out in the frigid and dark cold lighting hundreds of candles around cards of memories that we shared.  The last memory card was had the following text: 'When I asked you to spend the rest of your life with me.'  As I got down on one knee and opened that box, I watched the tears fall from her eyes.  Best feeling of my life.  I have a hard time believing I will ever forget that night...

So Much Basketball:  In my refusal to grow up, just like this post attempts to do, I have attempted over the past semester (my final semester) to enjoy the freedom of still being able to just be a kid.  I know, coming from the guy who just got engaged, I suppose I should accept that I am growing up.  But part of me knows that after this year, I will never have the freedom of just going to play basketball, not needing to worry about a job or family ever again, and thats scary to me.  So as a result, I have made an effort to spend at least an hour 3 times a week playing something I love.  Basketball.  There is no sport that I love more and the childish rush I get when playing allows me to completely ignore the fact that its all about to end...  So thanks to Tom Achtien (the other half of the TradeMark) and Mike Murray for many games of 21.

Waking up in interesting places: So... for those of you who don't know.  I have a tendency to sleep-walk/talk sometimes.  When I am drunk, its worse.  So as my last college memory, I want to apologize to anyone who has ever woken up to me trying to get into bed with them.  Tom, Meghan, Alec, Mom... I apologize to you all.  I'd like to say it won't happen again but... who knows what life after college will be like...

Hopefully I can add a few more memories to the list over the next week or two... I apologize for the length of this post but if you made it all the way till the end, I admire your endurance.  I also apologize for the probable terrible grammar as I am finishing this up just after midnight and my eyes are starting to shut on me...  The one thing that really gives me hope about the future is knowing that so many of these memories I can attribute to the great friends I have had along the way... Knowing that I will actually be reuniting with so many of my friends in Chicago who have already left me behind, excites me to no end. Also knowing that I will meet so many more awesome people in the years to come has me really looking forward to the next chapter....

First Post

Here we go...  My first post... After months of closely following the blogs of several close friends, and thoroughly enjoying what they have to say, I have decided I should contribute my thoughts and findings to the mix.  I spent a day pretty much going back and forth between what I want this blog to contain... Part of me really advocated for weekly thoughts, things that have been on my mind, ideas/issues that were of any importance to me at the time being... My other half simply suggested I keep it to interesting findings on the internet (perhaps with my analysis/breakdown of said clip or article).  After much internal debate, I have decided it will pretty much be a hodgepodge of all sorts of stuff.  Thoughts of the week, Funny Clips, Good Music, Interesting News articles, you name it.

I figure this could help me in several ways.  It will encourage me to stay balanced and organized in my daily thoughts.  It will also allow me to share with others what I am up to and perhaps allow for a much needed conversation between me and the rest of the world... (Yes, I imagine the entire world will soon be following my clever posts).

That being said, I will certainly try to post here from time to time, and I invite you to drop in and share your thoughts/reactions whenever you would like.  Until next time.

Tim Jung